Hello, my most wondrous subscribers!

When I do a bad job, nobody tends to notice—apart, of course, from my eagle-eyed editors here at Cheddquarters. But they certainly don’t cut my pay package. Then again that’s because I wouldn’t have the temerity to ask for a 4% raise if I were doing my job badly! Because I am not an entitled idiot—nor, apparently, a CEO.

News You Need2Know

• CEO: Can I get a 4% raise? Shareholders: Nope!

• Trump pressures Fed chair over bad job news

• Reddit sues AI firm over ‘scraping’

• Feds: Whole Foods ground beef maybe has E.Coli

• Amazon investing $10 billion in NC data center

More like a COO, with an ‘L’ at the end.

—Matt Davis, Need2Know Chedditor

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

$WBD ( ▼ 1.43% )  $NFLX ( ▲ 0.88% )  $SPX ( ▼ 0.53% )  $HPE ( ▼ 0.45% )  $WFC ( ▼ 0.64% )  $DIS ( ▼ 0.85% )  $RDDT ( ▼ 5.05% )  $GOOGL ( ▲ 0.1% )  $WFM ( ▲ 0.02% )  $AMZN ( ▲ 0.33% )  $AAPL ( ▼ 1.08% )  

CEO: Can I get a 4% raise? Shareholders: Nope!

Warner Bros. Discovery’s $WBD ( ▼ 1.43% ) shareholders voted to reject a $52.9 million package for CEO David Zaslav, signaling growing frustration over executive pay amid the media conglomerate’s financial struggles.

Zaslav’s compensation package represents a 4% increase from the previous year, despite Warner Bros. Discovery grappling with, let’s say, significant challenges. The company has faced steep declines in its traditional cable TV business due to cord-cutting and missed revenue targets in its first quarter for 2025, reporting a larger-than-expected loss. While the company’s streaming platform, HBO MAX HBO Max, buoyed by content hits such as “The White Lotus” and “The Pitt,” added 5.3 million subscribers this year, it remains far behind competitors like Netflix $NFLX ( ▲ 0.88% ) .

Netflix’s co-CEOs, Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, were paid $61.9 million and $60.3 million last year, respectively, while Disney’s $DIS ( ▼ 0.85% ) Bob Iger was paid $41.1 million.

This rare rebuke highlights the increasing sensitivity around executive compensation, especially when firms face financial hurdles. CEO pay rose 10% in 2024, you’ll remember, but your pay probably didn’t. If it did, enjoy that C-suite!

Trump pressures Fed chair over bad job news

Wall Street had a shaky day yesterday as U.S. stocks drifted on the heels of worrying economic updates. The S&P 500 $SPX ( ▼ 0.53% ) showed minimal movement, inching up by just 0.2% in afternoon trading, as a report from payroll firm $ADP ( ▼ 0.01% ) painted a bleak picture of the employment landscape.

It showed private employers increased their workforce by only 37,000, a stark decline from the previous month’s 60,000. These figures have raised concerns ahead of the U.S. Labor Department's more comprehensive jobs report on Friday. As Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, told the AP: "Whether this report is accurate or not, traders and investors will read today’s number as a dark result for trading today."

Expectations have risen that the Federal Reserve may need to cut interest rates later this year to support the economy. This has even prompted a reaction from President Donald Trump, who took to Truth Social, urging, “‘Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE… He is unbelievable!!!"

Despite the macroeconomic rumblings, individual stocks like Hewlett Packard $HPE ( ▼ 0.45% ) Enterprise and Wells Fargo $WFC ( ▼ 0.64% ) saw positive movements yesterday, bolstered by better-than-expected earnings and eased regulatory restrictions, respectively.

Today on the ‘gram: The luddites would not love it

Post of the day: Elon’s shiner mystery continues

Quote of the Day

Reddit sues AI firm over ‘scraping’

Reddit $RDDT ( ▼ 5.05% ) has filed a lawsuit against Anthropic, an AI company, claiming it illegally scraped user comments to train its chatbot, Claude. The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco, accuses Anthropic of using automated bots to access vast amounts of Reddit content despite explicit requests not to do so.

Furthermore, Reddit alleges that Anthropic trained its AI on personal data without users’ consent, sparking debate over ethical AI practices and data usage.

“AI companies should not be allowed to scrape information and content from people without clear limitations on how they can use that data,” said Ben Lee, Reddit’s chief legal officer.

Reddit has previously entered licensing agreements with notable AI companies such as OpenAI and Google $GOOGL ( ▲ 0.1% ) , allowing training on its content in exchange for meaningful safeguards.

Anthropic’s flagship chatbot, Claude, competes directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. However, Reddit’s lawsuit does not focus on copyright infringement — a common claim in AI-related lawsuits — but instead, accuses Anthropic of violating Reddit’s terms of use, creating unfair competition, and breaching ethical standards.

Should you check your 401(k) today?

👍️ 

Yes, but not with super high expectations.

Feds: Whole Foods ground beef maybe has E.Coli

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a public health alert regarding potential E. coli contamination in ground beef sold at Whole Foods $WFM ( ▲ 0.02% ) stores nationwide. The alert focuses on specific 1-pound vacuum-packed packages of Organic Rancher ground beef, produced on May 22 and May 23 by NPC Processing Inc., based in Shelburne, Vermont. The products have use-by dates of June 19 and June 20.

Although the USDA has not issued a formal recall since the affected ground beef is no longer available for purchase, officials are urging consumers to check their refrigerators or freezers for these packages. If found, the meat should either be discarded or returned to the store. I’m gonna say discard it. Like, it would be a pain to return it, dude. On the other hand, you might get back your $9! Which you could then use to help David Zaslav crowd-fund his raise.

No illnesses connected to the contaminated product have been reported thus far. However, authorities advise consumers to remain vigilant and take safety precautions with the affected beef.

Amazon investing $10 billion in NC data center

Amazon $AMZN ( ▲ 0.33% ) has announced plans to invest $10 billion in a new campus in North Carolina, aimed at expanding its cloud computing and AI infrastructure. The massive investment in rural Richmond County represents one of the largest in the state’s history and is expected to support at least 500 full-time jobs, with thousands more created through construction projects and the broader data center supply chain.

Richmond County, which has faced economic challenges following the decline of its textile and apparel industries, could see significant transformation.

“This project will truly transform our community in ways that we cannot imagine,” said Richmond county manager Bryan Land, highlighting that the initiative will also result in major infrastructure upgrades, including improvements to the water, wastewater, and fiber optic systems at no cost to county taxpayers.

David Zapolsky, Amazon’s chief global affairs and legal officer, said, “This investment will position North Carolina as a hub for cutting-edge technology, create hundreds of high-skilled jobs, and drive significant economic growth.”

North Carolina already hosts several major data centers, including those operated by Apple $AAPL ( ▼ 1.08% ) . This new "innovation campus" will add servers, storage drives, and networking equipment, among other technology, further cementing the state as a leader in AI and cloud computing infrastructure.

Poll of the Day: Should failing CEOs get raises?

Poll Results: You picked a side, alright…

We asked: Do you like Elon Musk's hot take on the big beautiful bill?

You answered:

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 He's right. It's a "massive, outrageous, pork-filled, disgusting abomination." (712 votes)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ He's wrong. It's big and beautiful! (11 votes)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Do I have to pick a side here? (186 votes)

909 Votes via @beehiiv polls